Struct 9 released new alpha gameplay footage for the prologue of their upcoming hack-and-slash medieval game, The Fallen Kings. The four minute video gives you a look at the gorgeously designed environments, the physics-based destruction from an ongoing siege, and the one-on-one dueling mechanics.

Conceptually the game is basically what you would have expected from Ubisoft’s For Honor, or rather what was originally pitched of the game during its E3 debut. Unfortunately the final product for For Honor was nothing like the pitch, and instead of getting a mix of Dynasty Warriors meets Bushido Blade we instead ended up with a crappy, grind-heavy Ubisoft game.

The gameplay for The Fallen Kings is closer to the likes of EA’s Lord of the Rings games for sixth-gen consoles.

Combat is plodding and weighty, and it only takes a few hits to dispose of enemies (or to be disposed of by enemies). You can check out the alpha gameplay preview below.

So I talked a little bit about the good above, but now it’s time to talk about the bad.

The most obvious drawback to the game are the combat and movement animations.

The basic horizontal strike to the head looks good, and the spinning slash isn’t bad, but the downward swing from the right shoulder toward the leg looks a little sloppy, and the blending between that specific move into the guard has too much snap to it, making it look almost like the player-character is clicking from one animation to the next.

Smoother transitions would go a long way in making the fights look a lot more fluid and natural.

There’s also an issue with the ready poses. The main boss at the end of the clip has his feet kind of sliding back and forth across the ground almost as if he’s gliding. Stationary footing would also go a long way in making the animations seem more polished.

Overall, though, the concept for The Fallen Kings is nice, and the ability to thwart or engage in sieges is a cool feature. Hopefully they just work on polishing the game up, and it might even turn out to be a solid alternative to Mount & Blade.

You can learn more about The Fallen Kings by visiting the official website. The game, as indicated in the video above, is still in the alpha stage so it’s a long ways off from completion, but you can play-test the alpha via the GameJolt page.